According to the NATO official, bin Laden is likely to have moved around regions ranging from the Chinese border to the Kurram valley near Afghanistan.

The source also claimed that Taliban leaderMullah Omar has been moving between the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Karachi in the past several months.

Omar, the founder of the Taliban, was Afghanistan’s de facto head of state from 1996 to 2001. He was unseated in the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Senior officials in Islamabad have rejected the claim by the NATO official.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the two al-Qaeda leaders are not in Pakistan, adding that any intelligence to the contrary must be officially handed over to Islamabad so that “swift measures” can be taken to arrest the duo.

Bin Laden remains at large nine years after the US invaded Afghanistan under the pretext of capturing or killing the al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders after blaming them for the 9/11 attacks.